Late Absentee Ballots to Be Counted

By AVI SALZMAN

Published: August 6, 2006

VOTING forms that should have been sent to Connecticut soldiers stationed overseas were not sent in time, so the state agreed last week to count overseas absentee ballots cast in the Aug. 8 primary even if they arrive as late as Aug. 25.

The United States Justice Department, which sued the state because numerous towns had not sent ballots in time, reached an agreement Wednesday with Connecticut officials on special procedures to allow overseas voters to cast ballots in primaries for federal offices.

By Connecticut law, absentee ballots must be received by the time the polls close on the day of the primary, which is 8 p.m. this year. States are supposed to send the ballots out at least 30 days before the election, so that soldiers and others have time to fill them out and return them, the suit said.

A review by the Department of Defense found that some service members from Connecticut stationed overseas had not received ballots as the primary approached, Kevin J. O'Connor, the United States attorney in Connecticut, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. Mr. O'Connor's office contacted Connecticut officials late last month to inform them of the problem and ''to their credit, they realized the failure to comply,'' he said.

''I first heard of this at end of last week,'' Susan Bysiewicz, the secretary of state, said in an interview Wednesday. ''I was very, very distressed to learn that some local election officials had complied late.''

The lawsuit, she said, was a technicality that gave the state the authority to hold the election open until Aug. 28. The suit was filed simultaneously with the agreement on Wednesday.

Ms. Bysiewicz said her office sent four letters starting in May to town clerks reminding them about the laws for absentee ballots and held two training sessions for local officials. Nonetheless, up to 81 towns mailed the absentee ballots to overseas voters fewer than 30 days before the primary, Ms. Bysiewicz said. About 700 absentee ballots, most of them to military personnel, were mailed late, she said.

To make sure residents overseas can vote, the state will also accept special federal write-in ballots from people who didn't receive absentee ballots. And under the terms of the agreement, municipal election officials will receive extra scrutiny from the state, as well as extra training in dealing with overseas voters.

Ms. Bysiewicz said she had also begun working with military officials to ensure that members of the military get ballots for the Nov. 7 general election well in advance.

The agreement affects federal elections, not state or municipal races. There are two primaries for federal offices this year: the Democratic primary for the United States Senate between Joseph I. Lieberman and Ned Lamont, and the Republican primary for the House of Representatives in the first congressional district between Scott MacLean and Miriam Masullo. If those races are close enough for the absentee ballots to make a difference, winners won't be declared until Aug. 25, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.

Photo: WEIGHING IN -- Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz says she will ensure that overseas voters get ballots. (Photo by Lauren Tagliatela/The Herald, via Associated Press)